James Baldwin famously said “I can’t be a pessimist because I’m alive. To be a pessimist means you have agreed that human life is an academic matter. So I’m forced to be an optimist. I am forced to believe that we can survive, whatever we must survive.” This quote has been on my mind a…
Author: Cecily Walker
Cecily is a mid-career library professional. She is an internationally recognized speaker in library and information studies, user experience, equity and social justice. When she's not being a humourless feminist, you can find her holding court on Twitter or riding a Vespa around town where she entertains fantasies of being Batgirl. The ideas and thoughts expressed on this blog are her own: Cecily does not now, nor has she ever, spoken for her employer.
Gender/Queer
An idea has been going around in my head ever since the pandemic started. I’ve been thinking a great deal about gender, sexual orientation, and their connection to my identity, more-so than I ever have in my life. This feels significant as someone who was an angry, young queer activist. I won’t bore you with…
How I Take Notes
I promised myself that I’d do a deeper dive on my note-taking and study habits, so here’s a very quick brain dump on how I make sense of what I read. Very large caveat: lately I have been seriously struggling. I get so bogged down in tools and methods (thanks, ADD brain ?) that I…
Review of the PaperLike Screen Protector (2021)
If one good thing has come out of this pandemic, it’s that I’ve been able to take a serious look at my study and note-taking habits, and identify ways that I can try to work with more focus and more efficiently in these areas.1 One of the things I noticed is that even though I…
The Most Cringe-worthy Street in Vancouver
I walk past this street from time to time, and every time I walk by, I am reminded of how good intentions can go horribly wrong. The name is intended to memorialize a portion of Vancouver’s Black community. This is a noble effort, and the city should be commended for it. However. The street is…
Thoughts Like A Runaway Train: Notes on Information Management with Zettelkasten
I made the decision earlier this year to spend the year preparing my grad school applications — that’s right, I’m planning a return to academia after a very long hiatus, provided that the schools of my choice accept me. Because I’ve made this commitment to myself, I’ve been focusing on studying “hacks” and trying to…